A cobporation



B. Q. F. FOSS.

lORE REDUCING PROCESS.

APPLxcATloN mw 1UNE25,|\911.

L 93 l l 9645 Patented July 29, 1919.

45 water repeatedly.

UNITE@ PATE BENJAMINQ. FOSS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T- THE FOSS INT1 OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION" GF ARIZONA.

ORE REDUCTION COMPANY,

WATIONJLIJ ORE-REDUCING Piaocnss.

asiaeas.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

1Patented J arly 29, 11919.

Application filed .Tune 25, `1911. Serial Nm 634,926.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN Q. P. Foss,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and .State of 5 Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ore-Reducing Processes, of which the following is a specifica- `tion.

The object of my invention is to provide l0 a new process for reducing hard, refractory ores, as well as all other kinds. By means of my process I am able toA avoid the necessity lof using the heavy mills now used,

. which'are known as stamp mills, tube mills,-

l" .15 rotary mills, etc. I have discovered a cheap and efficient process by whichv low grade as well as high grade ore may be worked, and also much of the waste materials now discarded as are. unworkable.

can render all ore very triable, in which condition it is crushed with ease and facility by an ordinary crushing apparatus with little wear in said apparatus. vMy improved .25 process will beniore fully described in the followingspecification.

The accompanying drawing will illustrate apparatus which may be used in carrying out my process. Theprocess is not necessai-ily associated with the particular apparatus illustrated, but may be carried out by anv one of a variety of appliances.

ReferringA to the accompanying drawing, the novel feature of the process consists in rst heatrngthe oresuddenly to a high ;d'e-` is admitted into a sloping chute. 3.. The water is introduced into this chute in as cold a condition as possible. For this purpose. in many localities, I lind it necessary to' utilize a refrigerating apparatus. I. use the same crushing mill 12 and other appliances in the reducing plant, I conduct it to a refrigerating apparatuswhich is indicated in the drawing at 17. From the refrigerating apparatus, it mayl pass 'to the inclined chute 3 posed of any well-known form, the elements of pipes More particu- 20 larlyniy process is a discovery by which I the source of supply.

After ithas left the crushingv machinery, friable condition by of one of which forms I have illustrated diagrammatically ip the drawings. The tank 17a may receive the water to be cooled and in this tank is placed a coil or group These are the cooling pipes which receive ammoniav gas orfother refrigerating medium through a pipe 2O from an expansion valve 21. The gas flows through this expansion valve from a supply tank 22 which receives the liquid ammonia through a vpipe 22 from the condenser 23.

A compressor 21 forces the ammonia gas under pressure through a pipe 24 into the coils ofthe condenser 23. These coils are kept cool b v means of cold ruiming water in the tank 24 in which -the said coils 23 are submerged. In some cases what is known as an open air condenser may be substituted for the forni shown at 23.V The expanded gas in the coils 19 returns to the compressor 2l through the pipe 25. A suitable engine or other motor 21il drives the compressor.

The water which Iuse to chill the heated ore may be derived froni'any natural source through a pipe28 if such source furnishes a plentiful supply. If it does not I use the same waterv repeatedly by `conducting it through a suitable pipe or conduit to the. tank 17a. rfhe waste waterwhich flows fromv the various appliances in the plant maybe collected in suitable receptacles such as shown at 31a and lead to a punip 30 through Va. pipe 31. `This pump may raise the water through a pipe 29 /to the tank 17a. Suitable valves 28u and 29a may shutoff one 0r the other of said pipes depending upon This very sudden cooling effect upon the heated materia-l brings' about' a friable oondition of the ore. By this process Iam able to produce what is vknown as an abrasion pulp as distinguished from a pulp produced by percussion. I thus avoidthe slimes that are produced in the process. This pulp is amenable to the cyanidA process. I have discoveredthat very hard and refractory ores, which resist the crushing effect ofv heavy lstamp mills and other are'reduced to a Soft, this process.

In' order that the may 'be ,made as great as possible, I rst crush the ore to 'small masses `of approximately such size as screen of one inch mesh. This preliminary percussion or stamping sudden cooling effect will pass through a i breaking operation I perform in asuitable crushing mill 4 of the usual construction. The ore thus .broken is delivered to a storage bin 5 4from which it may be'delivered to the Adrier 1` by a suitable feeding apparatus 6. g

The drier 1 should be of such'construction as will cause the'bro-ken'ore to be thoroughly heated to a temperaturev which causes the points. or angles of the pieces. to vappear "slightly red. By heating to this temperature,

acidity in theore is removed, andv sulfur, arsenic and other undersirable components are eliminated. This makes the pulp fully amenable tothe cyanid process, or to amalgamation or concentration'. It is held in the furnace for aV sufficient length -of time to thoroughlyl drive .out volatile components.

Testsshow that two minutes are` sufficient'. I find that a rotary kiln such as that illus- Y. trated at 1, in which the flame is admitted at the lowerend, gives the desired results. I have further found that unrefined producer gas is the cheapestand best for the purpose and lthat the gas burner .which forms the subject-matter of Letters. Patent No. 992,181, for gasburner, granted to me recently, gives the best results. 'This gas burner is illustrated'at v7 inthe drawing, Tvand the flame which it produces -is indicated by the dotted lines 8 in the kiln 1.v The burner may be supplied with'gas through a pipe 32 leading fromvr the blower 33, which in turn receives gas from the producer 34. The supply of air for this burner may come'through a pipe 35 leading froma blower 36. Y

from theheated oreas it strikes the cold bath are collectedA by vthe .hood 13 andare drawn olf throughthe pipe 14 by the eX- hauster 1 5. They are then dischargedinto the stack 16.l y The heated and dried material is shown at 9 dropping out of the end of the 'kiln into v the stream of cold Irunning water-3. At this instant the sudden cooling-eifect produces a violent contraction of the ore, following the" -previous expansion due to theheat, which converts .in vinto a friable Condition.. The

combined streams of ore and water may'theni' drop into the hopper 10 from which the ore may flow through .a chutell to a crushing apparatus 12. This crushing apparatus reduces the ore to any desired degreeof fineness capable of going through a screenof `,fine mesh. My process'enables the crusher to produce a much liner product-,than has heretofore been accomplished.

. In my process the same Watenmay be used repeatedly by passing it through a refrigerating apparatus, and. hence a much smaller vquantity of water is used per ton ofore reduced. as compared to other processes.

When treated as above described thev crushingapparatus 12 has muchless work cost. The fumes and poisonous gases arising i to do, for the reason that theore is in a By using unrefned .producer gas I can dry the ore-much .more cheaply than it can be done with a 'crude oil' `fire, vnopmatter what'the locality is. Iburn producer gas by .means .of al special burner of improved construction, in .which it is not necessary to refine the' gas'before it is burned. I burn the gas in. its rough or crude"stat e,.thereby gettingfthe greatest amount of he'at at the least cost. 1

lThis process is not achemicall or disintegratin'g process.. It is Wholly a physical and thermal process for reducing the ore to a line powder and preparing itr vfor treatment by anyknown process for 4reclaiming `the metals. 'By this process the highest eX- tractionof values from the `ore treated is accomplished. I am ableto do this at a much lower cost'than now prevails. .Iam also able to build a plantl in ywhich this process is used at a much lower initial In this process the moistureand volatile substances ,are driven out of the pores,[into' which the cooling medium is absorbed,-the action then talcing place serving to unbind the ore. v

While Iv have described my improved process moreor less precisely with respect to the various steps, and have described somewhat in detail a combination of appliances by which it may be carried out, I do not wish to be limited thereto unduly, as I contemplate changes which do not depart from the spirit'of my invention as defined by my claims.

I claim:

I 1. The process of'reducing hard materials I f toa friable condition, which consists in first breaking said materials into pieces of small size, then exposing said pieces to a gas 4flame fora timel suflicient to drive outl moisture and volatile substances, said Haine .being I produced by the combustion of fuel gas generated immediately before its arrival at and adjacent -to said llame, and then "suddenly submerging-s'aid materials in a con-lv in said materials. 2. T he process of reducing hard vmaterials vtinuously owing cooling medium before'a fusing or softening effecth'as'been produced first breaking said to a friablc condition, Which consists in first reaking'said materials into pieces of small size, then exposing said pieces tofa fiame in l to al friable condition, which consists in first breaking said materials into pieces of small size, then exposing said pieces tothe flame arising from the combustion of unre-fined gas generated immediately before its arrival at said flame, said pieces being given a progressive tumbling motion to expose them uniformly to the iiifiuence of said source of heat, said fiame bei-ng caused to impinge upon said pieces and uponsaid body, andY then immediately and ysuddenly cooling said pieces after the moisture and volatile suby stances therein have been driven off by said heat.

L The process of reducing hard materials to afriable condition, which consists in ously through an inclosed heatedv space and agitating said pieces therein, exposing said j pieces to 'the influence of a fiame of combustible gas generated immediately before its arrival at said flame which impinges Aupon them While said pieces arepassing.

through saidspace, and` then causing said pieces to drop out of said space into a continuously fioiving cooling' medium before a fusing or softening effect has'been produced in said pieces. i I

v The process ofreducing hard materials to a friable condition, which consists in first bi' raking said materials in-to pieces of small size., then feeding said materials continu- 1 ously through an inclosed heated space and agitating said pieces therein, exposing said materials into pieces 0f` small size, then feeding said pieces coiitinupieces tothe influence of an incandescent flame of combustible gas Which impinges uponA them while said'pieces are passing 'through said space .until Athe corners or angles of said pieces appearslightly red, and

then causing said pieces to pass from saida continuously flowingV spaceinto and With cooling' medium.

G. The process of reducing hard materials to a friable condition, which consists in feeding' said materials continuously through a heated space, exposing said iiiaterial's therein to an incandescent flame for a time sufficient to driveoff.i'olatile'v matter, and, then immediately and suddenly Acooling saidv materials.

7. The rocess ofi'educind hard materials to a friable condition, which consists in first breaking said materials into pieces of-l small size, then giving said pieces a progressive tumbling 'motion in. a confined space and exposing them in said space to an in- .l candescent flame which impinges upon them,

said pieces being space ina relatively short space of time and being discharged therefrom when the cor.- HerS or angles of said pieces appear slightly red into a continuously flowing cooling me dium, said pieces being moved bodily With the cooling medium.

8. The process of reducing hard materials toa friable condition, which consists'in first breaking said'materialsinto pieces of small passing said materials through an V`inclosed heated space and keeping them size, then continuouslyin motion in said vspace While subjecting them to the heat of an incandescent flame impingingthereon, said pieces being retained in said space forl a relatively Ishort period of time,

and -being dischargedv therefrom when the corners or angles of the pieces appear slightly red -into a cooling medium. 5 'y In testimony whereof, I have'subscribed iny name.

, A BENJAMIN Q. P. FOSS. Vitnesses:

HENRY A. PARKS, ANNA L. VALTON.

passed through'said heated 

